S-20-0235 Nicole Brinkman (Appellee) v. Seth M Brinkman and Kimberly Milius (Appellants)
Douglas County Court, Judge Grant Forsberg
Attorneys: Ryan Watson, Jeffrey Wagner (Wagner Meehan & Watson, LLP, for Appellee); Joseph Thornton (Smith Peterson Law Firm, LLP, for Appellants)
Civil: Probate; Will construction
Proceedings Below: On remand, the county court interpreted the will and found it was ambiguous. The court determined that Appellee, the decedent’s daughter, was not disinherited from the will.
Issues: Appellants assign that 1) the trial court erred in finding that the will was ambiguous; 2) if the use of the word “include” in the will created an ambiguity, the ambiguity is a latent ambiguity as to which parol evidence should be considered by the court; 3) even if a patent ambiguity exists in the will, the trial court erred in finding that the definition of “my issue” in the will included Appellee; and 4) the trial court erred in finding that Appellee was not expressly disinherited from her father’s will.